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Updated Monday morning: Wichita Police say they're presenting this case to the District Attorney's office either today or tomorrow for possible charges. The man who died has been identified as 27-year-old Alexander Mies.
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An armed robber is dead after owners of a Wichita pharmacy fight back. GOOD FOR THEM! It happened at the Salyer Pharmacy near 21st Street N. &amp; Broadway around eleven o'clock Saturday morning.

One of Salyer's owners says a man in his 20's walked in using a fake name and asked if his prescription was ready.That's when he pulled outa handgun, pointed it at the owner,and demanded Loritabs and other drugs.

At that point, he says his business partner ran to the back of the store, grabbed a shotgun, andyelled at the thief to drop his gun.FAIR WARNING...The suspect turned his gun on the armed owner, STUPID! and that's when the owner shot him in the head. IT WAS EITHER HIM OR THE CRIMINAL GOING HOME, AND THE OWNER MADE THE RIGHT DECISION.

Police say the man was pronounced dead on the scene.NO SURPRISE, CONSIDERING SHOTGUN SHELLS TO THE HEAD. Owners say this is the first robbery attempt they've had in at least 10 years. PROBABLY WILL BE 20 YEARS UNTIL THE NEXT ONE ONCE THIS STORY GETS AROUND.

The Sedgwick County District Attorney's office will make a final review of the case and decide if charges are filed. Salyer's owners say since the shooting was in self-defense, detectives told them it's likely to be classified asa justifiable homicide. HOPEFULLY THEY COME TO THE CORRECT DECISION! THIS SEEMS TO BE AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF WHAT SELF DEFENSE IS ALL ABOUT.

A Wichita pharmacist was justified in fatally shooting a robber who pointed a handgun and demanded painkillers, District Attorney Nola Foulston said Wednesday.

The investigation into the Aug. 25 shooting provided an explanation for why Alexander R. Mies, 27, was seeking Lortab and narcotics at Salyer Pharmacy, 102 E. 21st St.

He had become addicted to pain medications following several surgeries, Foulston's statement said.

But it would be wrong to dismiss Mies as a thug, his uncle told The Eagle.

"He wasn't an aggressive, mean person at all. He was the opposite. He had a soft heart," said John Mies, a banker and high school sports official who lives in Cheney.

The soft heart could be seen in how Mies befriended disabled people and how he cared for his three-legged Boston terrier. The dog had developed a severe problem with its leg, but Mies couldn't bear for it to be euthanized.

"He said it still had value -- it was a life," John Mies said.

Mies' problems began when he started taking prescribed pain medication to cope with undergoing about 10 surgeries resulting from sports injuries in the past decade, John Mies said.

He said his nephew hid his addiction to pain medication.

Mies had been a talented athlete. In one football game in October 1998, he rushed for 195 yards for Garden Plain High School and scored on a 15-yard touchdown run.

But after the injuries and surgeries, the 27-year-old "had a knee of about a 65-year-old," John Mies said.

A few weeks before his death, Mies and his uncle talked, and Mies bemoaned all his surgeries, his uncle said.

An investigation by police and prosecutors concluded that the black semiautomatic handgun that Mies pointed at two pharmacists during the robbery attempt was unloaded.

John Mies sees it as evidence that his nephew, though desperate, didn't intend to hurt anyone.

The pharmacist, Tom Lundberg, who fired one round from a pistol-grip shotgun, striking Mies in the head, "had no way of knowing" that Mies' gun was unloaded, John Mies said.

The investigative summary released by the district attorney's office Wednesday said that Lundberg had first yelled at Mies: "Put the gun down. Drop it."

But Mies swung his gun toward another pharmacist, the report said.

Mies' mother, Julie Mies, declined to comment Wednesday.

John Mies said he doesn't blame Lundberg for shooting his nephew.

"I feel sorry for him because he has to live with it every day because he took a life. But he was doing it in self-defense."

Lundberg told The Eagle, "Soon as I seen the gun... I figured he was going to use it."

In finding that Lundberg was justified in using deadly force, the district attorney noted: "Kansas law does not require a person to retreat if such person is using force to protect oneself or a third person....

"In Kansas, it is lawful for a person to possess and carry a firearm in their fixed place of business."

Foulston noted that before shooting at Mies, Lundberg "took reasonable steps" to get him to put down the gun.

Lundberg said he wished the shooting could have been avoided.

"I took a few days off" afterward, he said.

"I'd just like to see it go away."

He said he had been robbed at the same pharmacy in 1993. "It bothered me for a long time. Hadn't had a bit of trouble since -- until August."

John Mies said his nephew had married this past spring and had worked for a lumber yard, sometimes delivering supplies.

"Maybe somebody can learn something from this... and prevent this heartbreak from happening to another family," John Mies said.

As for his own family, he said, it's "something we'll never be able to understand."

NOW YOU KNOW

PRESCRIPTION PAINKILLER ADDICTION

About 6.4 million Americans ages 12 and older reported using psychotherapeutic drugs for nonmedical purposes, according to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. By far, painkillers are the most frequently abused.

Prescription drug abusers become preoccupied with using and obtaining drugs such as Lortab, Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin. They show patterns of compulsive usage and have cravings to take more in order to feel normal.

If you think you or someone you know is addicted, consider this advice from Rod Colvin, author of "Prescription Drug Addiction":

•Many people who get hooked have no history of problems and think they're not addicted. The drugs could be masking an emotional problem, and if abused, the body will build a tolerance that requires an unhealthy increase in medication.

•Prescription drug addiction is subtle and different in every person. There could be a change in mood, including belligerence, a false feeling of confidence, heightened sensitivity or flat emotions.

•Consider an intervention with friends and family, get help from trained professionals or find someone with influence to sponsor rehabilitation. Create a loving community of support with firmness against continued abuse.

•During drug dependence, the brain stops producing natural chemicals that it was getting from the drug, so withdrawal can be an excruciating ordeal. Consult a doctor to address appropriate levels of medication and a step-by-step treatment process.